Software installation onto a client using existing resources

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

0001The present invention relates to a network installation management technology, in particular to a method and a system for installing software such as operating systems or application programs onto clients using the network installation management technology, as well as a corresponding client.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

0002Software like operating systems (OS's) or application programs can be installed onto a computer either manually or automatically. For the manual method, engineers are required to take all the software-installing CDs to the client's place, and then set the operating system, install the software one by one, and configure the application server as required.

0003Generally, the automatic method is also known as “Network Installation Management (NIM)” service. In a NIM environment, software can be remotely installed onto one or more computers through network. In particular, the NIM technology is increasingly used for installing operating systems and/or application programs onto a sophisticated mainframe computer (e.g. a client or a server) capable of processing a large amount of information.

0004The NIM technology provides the function of managing software installation and maintenance through network. The NIM environment consists of at least one NIM server and several clients. The NIM server provides desired resources (such as files and programs used in installing) for installing software onto clients and maintaining the software. Computers receiving resources provided by the NIM server are called NIM clients. Software installation onto the computers of the clients is achieved by creating an installation image (such as a file of “OS images”).

0005In the NIM operating environment, the NIM server remotely boots NIM client, and copies an installation image of the software to be installed stored in the NIM server, and then installs the installation image onto the client in a remote way. Equipment supported by NIM service includes AIX (Advanced Interactive Executive, Unix OS of IBM), X-Server and so on. Presently, a lot of IT companies can provide NIM service. For instance, BMC software provides OS deployment solutions based on NIM; and Opsware provides server automatic systems.

0006<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>1</b></figref> shows a typical installation process of NIM. This process is exemplified by the AIX operating system.

0007This process starts with step S<b>100</b>, and then proceeds to step S<b>105</b>. The original client is started or reset in step S<b>105</b>. For example, for an original client (also called a target client) onto which an operating system is to be installed, booting may be required; while for another client whose system recovery is to be conducted, resetting may be required.

0008In the next step S<b>110</b>, during BIOS booting process, the server checks whether the client is configured with IPL ROM (Read Only Memory) with a bootp command enabled. Here, IPL is the abbreviation for Initial Program Loader. The Bootp command stands for the Bootstrap Protocol command. This Bootstrap Protocol is based on TCP/IP, which enables a diskless workstation to get an IP address from a central server and can distribute dynamic IP addresses to diskless workstations within a LAN without requiring each user setting static IP addresses.

0009If the check result in step S<b>110</b> shows that the IPL ROM has not enabled the Bootp, then the process proceeds to step S<b>115</b>. In step S<b>115</b>, a need for IPL ROM simulation is specified and the system fails to boot up. At this time, configuration must be performed on the client to enable the execution of Bootp command.

0010If the check result in step S<b>110</b> shows that the client has already configured with IPL ROM, the process proceeds to step S<b>120</b>. In step S<b>120</b>, the manual interaction is desired, which is clearly indicated in the IPL ROM menu.

0011Then the process proceeds to step S<b>125</b>, wherein the target client will issue a bootp request.

0012Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S<b>130</b>. The command received is conveyed to a small-sized runtime environment. Then the process proceeds to step S<b>135</b>, wherein the bootstrap script is invoked to get a basic code for booting.

0013Then the process proceeds to step S<b>140</b>, wherein it will be checked whether the OS bootstrap program is obtained from the network, tape or CD-ROM.

0014If choosing to obtain OS bootstrap program from the network, the process proceed to step S<b>145</b>. Obtaining OS bootstrap program from network means the operation of getting the installation image file of the OS to be installed from NIM server through network. Here, the NIM SPOT resource is NFS. NFS allows files to be shared among computers connected to the network as if the file were on the local hard disk drive of the client. Installation of NFS files can help to configure the client, and then the OS installation image is copied from NIM SPOT to a target client (an original client). On completion of step S<b>145</b>, all the installation image files of the OS to be installed are completely copied to the target client.

0015If choosing to obtain OS bootstrap program from the tape, the process proceeds to step S<b>150</b>. In step S<b>150</b>, the target client is configured completely by the boot image carried inherently on the tape.

0016If choosing to obtain OS bootstrap program from CD-ROM, then use the AIX program on the CD to aid in configuring the target client.

0017On completion of steps S<b>145</b>, S<b>150</b> or S<b>155</b>, the process proceeds to step S<b>160</b>. At this time, all the resources of the OS to be installed have been on the local computer. In step S<b>160</b>, BIOS installation script is invoked and the local computer begins to install the above-mentioned OS. Then in step S<b>165</b>, OS installation on the original client is finished and the OS installed thereafter can be operated.

0018In addition to OS, the NIM system can be used to remotely install application programs or service or the like from the server onto the client.

0019Specifically, in the NIM operating environment, the target client to receive server resources is required to have BIOS and support NIM. Once the client is powered on, BIOS of NIM will conduct a power on test, and then it will find the address of the NIM server which can provide the resources of the OS to be installed, according to the parameters configured in MBR (Main Boot Record). Then, BIOS boots up the original client and connects it to the NIM server. After the establishment of communication with the NIM server, authentication of the client and authorization for the client will be completed. A request is sent to the designated NIM server manually or automatically to get the “OS images” files of the OS to be installed. Here, the image files can be saved on NIM server in either a compressed format or a non-compressed format. Read the OS installation image file from the server, copy the whole file from NIM server and save it on the target client (the original client), thus the OS installation image file is remotely installed onto the client. Once the OS installation image file is installed onto the client remotely, the client needs to be rebooted and the software needs to be installed before it can really run. Compared with the OS installation in manual style, this process is automatic, but the end user still needs to wait for the completion of installation of OS and application programs before he/she could use the computer.

0020On the other hand, it can be seen from said installation that there is still a time delay in installing OS and/or application onto client by NIM technology. As is mentioned above, time is desired for the NIM installation. Approximately 30 minutes or more will be needed in the process of “Boot NIM→Copy installation image file→Reboot→System ready”. Especially in the process in which OS installation image files are copied to the target client, all of the OS installation image files are desired to be copied to the target client in order before other operations of system boot can be done. This is one of the reasons for the time delay.

0021Time delay results in the poor performance of NIM in supporting some solutions to fast deployment. In some commercial applications such as bank business, disaster recovery and system backup are demanding on time spent in installation and configuration of the system. The system is expected to be installed, configured and resumed as fast as possible. If long time is spent on the installation and configuration of the system used in such fields, commercial loss will occur.

0022So a method, a system and a corresponding client are expected, through which time delay in software installation can be reduced or eliminated and thus fast installation of software on client is achieved by NIM technology.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

0023To overcome the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, a method, a system and a corresponding client of the present invention are provided.

0024An object of the present invention is to provide a method, a system and corresponding clients, through which time delay in software installation can be reduced or eliminated and thus fast installation of software on clients is achieved by NIM technology. This solution should be well applicable to disaster recovery and server backup.

0025Another object of the present invention is that a target client operates with only light load. This is reflected mainly in the following aspects: the client can run immediately after power on; the process of NIM does not affect the operation of the upper-level OSs and application programs; I/O is scheduled so well that said software can run during the process of software installation.

0026A further object of the present invention is to provide a NIM system, a method and a corresponding client that enable the client to run smoothly and make the client free from re-booting after the installation of OS and other software.

0027According to the present invention, a method is provided by which software installation on the client is implemented under a NIM environment, which comprises a NIM server that provides resources desired for the installation and maintenance of software on the client and at least one said client, the method comprising:

0028initializing the client, wherein a virtual mapping device associated with a memory driver of the client is created;

0029running said software on the client;

0030conducting data migration operation from the NIM server to the client while running said software, wherein the migrated data is the resource data obtained from NIM server and desired for installing said software; and

0031the software installation being completed when all the data desired for installing said software are migrated to the memory driver of the client.

0032According to another aspect of the present invention, a client is provided. The client can conduct software installation in a NIM environment via a NIM server which can provide resources desired for the installation and maintenance of software on the client, said client comprising:

0033an initialization and software running module for initializing the client and running said software on the client, and for creating a virtual mapping device associated with a memory driver of the client;

0034a communication module for establishing communication between said client and said NIM server;

0035a memory driver for storing the resources desired for running software; and

0036a data migration module for conducting data migration operation from the NIM server to the client while running said software, wherein the migrated data is the resource data obtained from the NIM server and desired for installing said software; wherein, the installation of software is completed when the data migration module has migrated all the data desired for installing the software to said memory driver.

0037According to another aspect of the present invention, a system with which software can be installed onto a client in a NIM environment is also provided, the system comprising one or more clients and a NIM server which can provide resources desired for the installation and maintenance of software on the client(s), wherein,

0038said client comprises: <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none"><li id="ul0001-0001" num="0000"><ul id="ul0002" list-style="none"><li id="ul0002-0001" num="0039">an initialization and software running module for initializing the client and running said software on the client, and for creating a virtual mapping device associated with a memory driver of the client;</li><li id="ul0002-0002" num="0040">a communication module for establishing communication between said client and said NIM server;</li><li id="ul0002-0003" num="0041">a memory driver for storing the resources desired for running software; and</li><li id="ul0002-0004" num="0042">a data migration module for conducting data migration operation from the NIM server to the client while running said software, wherein the migrated data is the resource data obtained from the NIM server and desired for installing said software, and</li><li id="ul0002-0005" num="0043">the installation of software is completed when the data migration module has migrated all the data desired for installing the software to said memory driver, and wherein,</li></ul></li></ul>

0044said NIM server comprises a NIM server communication device, a NIM operation control device, an image reading device and a image database, wherein, <ul id="ul0003" list-style="none"><li id="ul0003-0001" num="0000"><ul id="ul0004" list-style="none"><li id="ul0004-0001" num="0045">the NIM server communication device is used for establishing communication with said client, and for conveying the request for the client read resources desired for running software from the NIM server to the NIM operation control device, and</li><li id="ul0004-0002" num="0046">the NIM operation control device is used for controlling the image reading device to read installation image of desired resources from the image database according to the request of the client.</li></ul></li></ul>

0047According to the present invention, the time delay in installing software onto a client can be reduced or eliminated and the client can run immediately after power on. The process of NIM does not affect the operation of the upper-level OSs and application programs, and I/O is scheduled so well that said software can run during the process of software installation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0048The novel features of the invention will be described below. However, the present invention, its preferred embodiment, other objectives and advantages can be better understood by reference to the detailed description of illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

0049<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>1</b></figref> shows a typical NIM installation process in the prior art;

0050<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref> is a schematic flow chart of a method <b>200</b> for installing software on a client in a NIM environment based on the principle of the present invention;

0051<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>3</b></figref> is a flow chart of a client initialization process according to the present invention;

0052<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>4</b></figref> is an illustrative mapping table of a storage space of a memory driver for a client set according to the present invention;

0053<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>5</b></figref> is a flow chart showing a method <b>500</b> for determining the locations of the resources desired for running software in the method shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref> according to the present invention;

0054<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>6</b></figref> is a flow chart showing a process <b>600</b> for judging the I/O operation status of running software in the method shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>5</b></figref> according to the present invention;

0055<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>7</b></figref> is a schematic flow chart showing a process <b>700</b> of data migration operation in the method shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref> according to the present invention;

0056<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>8</b></figref> is a schematically structural diagram of a client <b>800</b> which is suitable for installing software in a NIM environment according to the principle of the present invention;

0057<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>9</b></figref> is a detailed schematically structural diagram of a resource acquisition module <b>803</b> shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>8</b></figref>;

0058<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>10</b></figref> is a detailed schematically structural diagram of a data migration module <b>809</b> shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>8</b></figref>;

0059<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>11</b></figref> is schematically structural diagram of a system <b>1100</b> for installing software on a client in a NIM environment according to the principle of the present invention; and

0060<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>12</b></figref> is a schematic diagram showing a system <b>1200</b> for installing software on a client in a NIM environment according to a particular embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

0061In the following, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

0062According to the present invention, to reduce or eliminate the time delay of software installation on a client in the prior art, the software to be installed can run during the initialization process of the client according to the present invention based on the NIM technology. During the initialization of the client, a virtual mapping device associated with a memory driver of the client is created, which is used for scheduling between the client's memory driver and a remote NIM server with respect to an I/O operation for running software so as to direct the I/O operation for running software to the client's memory driver or the remote NIM server. Resources desired for running said software are obtained during the process of running said software. Specifically, on one hand, determine the locations of the resources desired for running said software. If the resources for running said software are found on said client, then the resources can be acquired from the client, or otherwise they should be acquired from said NIM server. This process can be realized by intercepting the I/O operation for running said software and judging the request for I/O operation. When the I/O operation request targets operation on the client's local client (a memory driver of the client), local resources are called to run said software; when the resources requested by the I/O operation are not at the local client, the desired resources will be obtained from the NIM server which provides resources for the installation and maintenance of the software, and then continue to run said software. The desired resources can be, for example, files and programs to be used in the installation of the software. On the other hand, during the process of running software on the client, data migration operation shall be performed from the NIM server to the client, namely, migrate the resources desired for installing the software, but to be acquired from the NIM server. According to the present invention, the software is installed and the resource data desired for installing the software is migrated while the software is run. Therefore, unlike the prior art in which we must first acquire the resources desired for installing the software from the NIM server (for example, the installation images of the files and programs used for installing the software), then copy said installation images to the local client and reboot the system before finishing the installation of said software by the time the system is ready, which is quite a time-consuming process that results in a big time-delay. Systems according to the present invention can reduce or eliminate the time delay in installing software on the client.

0063<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref> is a schematic flow chart showing a method for installing software on a client in a NIM environment according to the principle of the present invention. According to the present invention, said client is a client on which software is installed based on the NIM technology. This process starts with step S<b>201</b>, and then proceeds to step S<b>203</b>. In step S<b>203</b>, an initialization operation is conducted on the client. It should be known that said initialization operation can include, for example, the BIOS boot process of OS or the initialization loading process for the application. A detailed description of the initialization operation of the client according to the present invention will be given in conjunction with <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>3</b></figref>.

0064<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>3</b></figref> is a flow chart of the initialization process of the client in the method shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref> implemented according to one embodiment of the present invention. Once the initialization operation begins on the client (step S<b>301</b>), the process proceeds to step S<b>303</b>. In the step S<b>303</b>, a NIM agent is firstly loaded when system booting is performed. During the process of subsequently running the software to be installed, this NIM agent is used to create a virtual mapping device associated with the client's local memory driver (e.g., hard disk), and to create a storage space mapping table for the local memory driver, for intercepting the I/O operation arising from running said software, for acquiring resources desired in running said software from the local client or a remote NIM server according to the intercepted I/O operation, and for migrating an installation image file from the NIM server to the client's local memory driver during software on the client being run. The operation of loading a NIM agent is known to a person skilled in the art. For instance, a NIM agent can be written into BIOS or said NIM agent can be stored in the internal memory and then be call when BIOS starts to boot thus to load the agent. Herein, the created virtual mapping device is used with respect to an I/O operation for running the software running, and for scheduling between the client's memory driver and the remote NIM server to direct the I/O operation for running said software to the client's memory driver or the remote NIM server.

0065When said NIM agent has been loaded, the initialization process proceeds to step S<b>305</b>. In this step, NIM agent is run to create a virtual mapping device associated with the client's local memory driver. Thus, the client's original memory driver is screened and the I/O operation resulted from running the software is directed to said virtual mapping device. The client can run immediately after power on; the process of NIM does not affect the operation of the higher-level OS and application; and I/O is scheduled so well that said software can start to be run during installing the software.

0066Then, the initialization process proceeds to step S<b>307</b> and the communication between the client and the NIM server is established. As the operation of establishing communication between the client and the NIM server is familiar to a person skilled in the art, the detailed description thereof is omitted here.

0067Once communication between the client and the NIM server has been established, the initialization process proceeds to step S<b>309</b>. In step S<b>309</b>, an address space mapping table about the memory driver of the client is created on the basis of the installation image file on the NIM server of the software to be installed. Said mapping table is used to record the physical location of the resources desired for running the software to be installed in the NIM server or in the client's memory driver and to mark the storage status of the software to be installed in the client's memory driver. This mapping table shows the client's overall status of volume and records the physical location of the resources desired for running the software to be installed in the NIM server or the physical location of them in client's local memory driver. Herein, marking physical location of desired resources in the mapping table comprises marking which resources among the resources desired for running the software are already on the local client and which are not on the local client and therefore need to be acquired from a remote NIM server. In this embodiment, the size of the mapping table is set according to the size of the installation image file of the software to be installed on the NIM server.

0068Alternatively, according to another embodiment of the present invention, an address space mapping table is created initially according to a client's local memory driver before communication between the client and a NIM server is established, then said mapping table is modified on the basis of the installation image file of the software to be installed on NIM server after the communication between the client and the NIM server is established.

0069In addition, it should also be known that, in the two initialization methods mentioned above, step S<b>303</b>, in which a NIM agent is run to create a virtual mapping device associated with the client's local memory driver, can also be implemented while the mapping table is being created or after it has been created.

0070After the mapping table is created, the initialization process proceeds to step S<b>311</b>, where the software to be installed will be run, and then the process proceeds to step S<b>205</b> shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref>.

0071<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>4</b></figref> is an illustrative mapping table for a client's memory driver set according to the present invention. Herein, a corresponding storage space on the local client is divided into multiple blocks in accordance with the size of the software to be installed (e.g., through the installation image of corresponding software on a NIM server), each block containing the address of the resource it corresponds to and the mark that indicates where the address locates. For example, for address 0001A . . . , resource at this address can be acquired from the client's local memory driver, and it is tagged “local”; for the address 0008I . . . , resource marked at this address is non-local and should be acquired from the NIM server, so it is tagged “Non-local”. A person skilled in the art can understand that the address in the mapping table actually corresponds to the code address of the software to be installed and that the location of this code address stored in the client's local memory driver corresponds to the location of this code address stored in the installation image file on the NIM server. This guarantees that the address of each block in the mapping table represents the same address in the client's local memory driver and NIM server. This address space mapping table, for example, can be set in the way of blocks, and data can be operated in blocks thereafter. Size of the blocks can be 64K, 128K, 256K and so on. It is should be known that other ways can be adopted to mark the mapping table, and the present invention will not be limited to the particular marking methods shown in the examples.

0072Referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref> continuously, the process proceeds to step S<b>205</b> after the initialization of the client is started, and then the software to be installed will run on the client. A person skilled in the art should know that, during the installation process of software such as OSs or application programs, a part of codes or resources desired for running the software, in fact, have already existed in client's local memory driver (e.g., hard disk). For instance, in the prior art, the process of installing OS through network generally is: on completion of initialization and BIOS boot, communication with the NIM server is established on the basis of the booting program for OS to be installed in the BIOS; then the installation image files of the OS to be installed are acquired from the NIM server and all the installation image files are saved locally on the clients. Said software can not run before the OS software installation is completed. A person skilled in the art should also know that, in the prior art, acquiring an OS installation image from the NIM server does not need to take existing resources on the client into account, and that during the process of running the software, resources are read sequentially from local memory driver to run the software.

0073Different from the prior art, in the present invention, the software to be installed is run on the basis of the existing resources on the client when the software has not been installed after the initialization process is started. A virtual mapping device is created during the initialization process. So, any I/O operation for running the software are directed to the virtual mapping device and will not exert any impact on client's original memory driver. During the process of running the software, only for those resources that do not exist in the client's local memory driver, the installation images for desired resources shall be acquired from the NIM server.

0074The process proceeds to step S<b>206</b> after the software to be installed is run on the client. In step S<b>206</b>, the status of a request for resources is judged by a NIM agent. The status of resource request is classified into two types: one is for resources desired for running the software to be installed and the other is for data migration resources. As to the former, the system will perform step S<b>207</b>; as to the latter, the system will perform step S<b>217</b>.

0075In step S<b>207</b>, the storage location of the resource desired for running the software is judged. The process of this judgment is described in the following with reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>5</b></figref>.

0076<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>5</b></figref> is the flow chart for of determining the location of the resources desired for running the software in the method shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref> according to the present invention. In step S<b>501</b>, the operation of determining the location of the resource desired for running the software is started. Then the process proceeds to step S<b>503</b>. In step S<b>503</b>, I/O operation of the running software to client's memory driver is intercepted, and then the status of intercepted I/O operation is determined in step S<b>505</b>. A person skilled in the art can understand that frequent I/O operation to a local memory driver is desired when running a software. The I/O operation can be either reading or writing operation with respect to the memory driver. In the present invention, running and installing go simultaneously, so each I/O operation for the client running the software is intercepted firstly, as shown in step S<b>503</b>. After the status of I/O operation is determined, the process proceeds to step S<b>507</b>, where the preset mapping table for the client's memory driver is looked up according to the determined status of I/O operation. The mapping table records the physical location of the resources desired for running the software in the NIM server or the physical location of them in client's memory driver in the form of block locations, and marks the storage status of the software to be installed in the client's memory driver. Locations of the resources desired for I/O operation are determined in step S<b>509</b> according to the addresses in the mapping table and mark therein. In step S<b>511</b>, the desired resources are acquired from the client or from the NIM server according to the locations of resources determined in step S<b>509</b>. Then the process turns back to step S<b>209</b> or S<b>211</b> in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref>.

0077Specifically, the process of determining the I/O operation status in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>5</b></figref> is shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>6</b></figref>. <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>6</b></figref> is a flow chart that shows how to judge the I/O operation status of running the software in the method shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>5</b></figref> according to the present invention. The process of judging I/O operation status starts with step S<b>601</b>. Then the process proceeds to step S<b>603</b> judging the I/O operation status.

0078In step S<b>603</b>, if the I/O operation status is judged to be a writing request as shown in step S<b>605</b>, then the process proceeds to step S<b>607</b>, where data desired for running the software is written to the corresponding address in the client's local memory driver and is marked in the mapping table to indicate that the data of this physical address has been in the client.

0079On the other hand, in step S<b>603</b>, if the I/O operation status is judged to be a reading request as shown in step S<b>609</b>, then the process proceeds to step S<b>610</b>, where the mapping table will be looked up to determine the storage status of data to be read in the client's memory driver. Then the process proceeds to step S<b>611</b>. In step S<b>611</b>, it is judged, on the basis of the result from looking up the mapping table, whether the data to be read is the updated data on the local memory driver. If the judging result is “Yes” (namely, the data has been updated by writing), then the process proceeds to step S<b>613</b>, where the desired data shall be read from the client's local memory driver and then the process proceeds to in the step S<b>617</b>, where the reading operation is conducted. In this case, as the data read has already existed in the client's local memory driver, the mapping table does not need to be marked. When the judgment result shows that the data to be read is not on the local client but on a remote NIM server, the process proceeds to step S<b>615</b>. In step S<b>615</b>, corresponding installation image files are read from the NIM server. Subsequently, in step S<b>617</b>, the reading operation is performed while the mapping table is marked. According to the mapping table, if the data to be read is judged to be on the client's local memory driver (for example, it has been copied to the local memory driver via data migration operation) and said data is identical to the data at corresponding address on the NIM server, the data can be read directly from the local client according to one embodiment of the present invention, or the data can also be read from the NIM server according to another embodiment of the present invention. On the other hand, according to one embodiment of the present invention, when the desired data is read from the NIM server, the read data is written into client's memory driver simultaneously when the reading operation is performed, and the mapping table is marked to show that the data as said address has already been stored in the local client. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the data is not simultaneously written to client's memory driver when it is being read, but migrated to client's memory driver from the NIM server via data migration operation.

0080Referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref> continuously, when the resource desired for running the software has been acquired from the local client or the NIM server, the process proceeds to step S<b>213</b>. In step S<b>213</b>, the software is run on the basis of the acquired resources and the system returns to step S<b>205</b>.

0081For a request for resource data migration, the system will carry out the data migration process in step S<b>217</b>. The data migration process according to the present invention is shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>7</b></figref>. The data migration process starts with step S<b>701</b>, and then the process proceeds to step S<b>703</b> where the operation of data migration is activated. Preferably, the data migration operation can be performed by running a data migration program which can be loaded, for example, in the process of the client's BIOS boot. Also, a person skilled in the art should understand that this data migration program can either be combined with a NIM agent or be a single program.

0082Once the data migration program is activated, the process proceeds to step S<b>705</b>, where the migration operation of installation image data from a NIM server begins. During the migration operation, when the NIM server is started, data of the installation image stored in the image database of the remote NIM server can be migrated continuously to the client's local memory driver. This process is similar to the traditional NIM service. The difference is in that a mapping table is introduced in the present invention to record the whole migration process in order to coordinate when, how to copy and what to copy between the local client and the remote memory. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the data migration operation is performed during the operation of the client. According to the mark (showing whether the data is on the local client) made in the mapping table, the data migration operation is conducted, with reference to the address marked as “data is not on the local client”, and the installation image data at the corresponding addresses is migrated from the remote NIM server to the local memory driver. In one embodiment of the present invention, the data migration operation is conducted in blocks. It should be understood that the mapping table used in performing the data migration operation can be either the one used in running the software, or a separate mapping table which is the same as the one used in running the software. In the latter case, the two mapping tables associate with each other to mark the storage status of the client's local memory driver synchronously.

0083When a part of data is completely migrated, the process proceeds to step S<b>707</b> where it is judged whether all the NIM installation image data has been migrated. If the judgment result in step S<b>707</b> shows that not all installation image data on the NIM server has been migrated to the client's local memory driver, the process proceeds to step S<b>711</b> to continue the migration of installation image data from the NIM server to the client's local memory driver and the process returns to step S<b>705</b>. On the other hand, if the judgment result in step S<b>707</b> shows that all installation image data on the NIM server have been migrated to the client's local memory driver, the whole process of data migration is completed, which means all data desired for installing the software is on the local driver, and all locations in the mapping table have been marked as “Local”. Then the process proceeds to step S<b>709</b>, where the intercepted I/O operation, the mapping table, the virtual mapping devices will be released, and the NIM service will be stopped. Thereafter, data access is performed on the local memory driver. After the NIM service is ended, the server runs with normal client storage I/O.

0084According to the present invention, the data migration operation is conducted during the operation of client, and is such an operation that the installation image data is migrated (copied) from the NIM server to the client's local memory driver. Herein, the installation image data to be migrated is the installation image data of the software to be installed on client. The migrated data can comprise, for example: data read from the NIM server but not yet written onto the local client during running the software; data desired for running the software and should be read from NIM server; and other data desired for installing the software. Certainly, if reading data from the NIM server and writing the read data onto the local client disk are performed at the same time during running the software, the migrated data will only comprise the data to be read from NIM server and desired for running the software, and other data desired for installing the software.

0085On completion of data migration, the step finally proceeds to step S<b>219</b> shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>2</b></figref> and the software installation is completed.

0086According to the present invention, the data migration operation and the I/O operation performed during running the software can be conducted simultaneously or sequentially, and it is not limited to a specific performing sequence.

0087With reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. <b>2</b>-<b>7</b></figref>, the method of installing software on a client in a NIM environment has been described above according to the principle of the present invention. On the basis of the method of installing software on a client in a NIM environment according to the principle of the present invention, a client designed on the principle of the present invention and a system which can install software on the client in a NIM environment are described in conjunction with <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. <b>8</b>-<b>11</b></figref>.

0088<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>8</b></figref> is a client <b>800</b> which is suitable for installing software in a NIM environment according to the principle of the present invention. A client devised according to the present invention has fundamental NIM functions and can realize the software installation through a NIM server in a NIM environment. The client <b>800</b> shown in the figure comprises an initialization and software running module <b>801</b>, a resource acquisition module <b>803</b>, a communication module <b>805</b>, a memory driver <b>807</b> and a data migration module <b>809</b>.

0089Herein, the initialization and software running module <b>801</b> is used for initializing said client and running said software on the client and for creating a virtual mapping device associated with the client's memory driver. The created virtual mapping device is used for scheduling between the client's memory driver and the remote NIM server with respect to the I/O operation for running the software, so as to direct the I/O operation for running said software to the client's memory driver or the remote NIM server; the communication module <b>805</b> is used for establishing communication between the client and said NIM server; the memory driver <b>807</b> is used for storing the resources desired for the running software; the resource acquisition module <b>803</b> is used for acquiring the resources desired for running the software; and the data migration module <b>809</b> is used for migrating data from the NIM server to the client. The migrated data is the resource data desired for installing the software and shall be acquired from NIM server; and the installation of said software is completed when the data migration module have migrated all the data desired for installing the software to said memory driver.

0090Once the client is powered on, the initialization operation will be conducted. According to the present invention, during the initialization process, the initialization and software running module <b>801</b> starts to run the software to be installed based on the existing resources on the client where the software has not been installed yet. The initialization and software running module <b>801</b> is configured to load the resource acquisition module <b>803</b> and the data migration module <b>809</b> during system booting, to instruct the resource acquisition module <b>803</b> associating the memory driver <b>807</b> with a virtual mapping device (to be described later), thus directing the I/O operation in running the software to said virtual mapping device, to instruct the communication module <b>805</b> to establish communication between the client and the NIM server, and to instruct the resource acquisition module <b>803</b> to create an address space mapping table for the memory driver <b>807</b>.

0091<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>9</b></figref> is a detailed schematically structural diagram of resource acquisition module <b>803</b> shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>8</b></figref>. The resource acquisition module shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>9</b></figref> comprises an I/O operation intercepting unit, an I/O operation status judging unit <b>903</b>, a NIM agent operation unit <b>905</b>, a virtual mapping device <b>907</b> and a mapping unit <b>909</b>.

0092Herein, according to one embodiment of the present invention, after establishing communication between the client and the NIM server, the mapping unit <b>909</b> will set a mapping table about the address space of the client's memory driver based on the installation image of the software to be in stalled on the NIM server. According to another embodiment, the mapping unit <b>909</b> can also preset said mapping table on the basis of the memory driver; and then modify said mapping table on the basis of the installation image of the software to be installed on the NIM server after establishing communication between the client and the NIM server. According to the invention, said mapping table is used to record the physical addresses of resources desired for running the software to be installed on the NIM server or in the client's memory driver and to mark the storage status of the software to be installed in client's memory driver. Preferably, said mapping table can be set on the basis of blocks.

0093When the client begins to run the software, said resource acquisition module starts to judge the addresses of the resources desired for running said software on the basis of the address space mapping table for the client's memory driver. Specifically, I/O operation intercepting unit <b>901</b> intercepts the I/O operation for running software to the memory driver and conveys the intercepted I/O operation to the I/O operation status judging unit <b>903</b>. The I/O operation status judging unit <b>903</b> makes a judgment on the status of the intercepted I/O operation. In addition, said virtual mapping device <b>907</b> is used for scheduling between the client's memory driver and the remote NIM server with respect to the I/O operation for running the software so as to direct the I/O operation for running the software to the client's memory driver or the remote NIM server. The NIM agent operation unit is used to look up the mapping table set by the mapping unit <b>909</b> according to the determined I/O operation status and determine the locations of the resources desired for the I/O operation on the basis of the address and its mark in the mapping table.

0094The NIM agent operation unit <b>905</b> conducts the following procedures on the basis of the judgment result from I/O operation judging unit <b>903</b>:

00951) when said I/O operation judging unit <b>903</b> judges the I/O operation to be a writing request, said NIM agent operation unit <b>905</b> will directly write the data desired for running the software onto the corresponding address of said memory driver, and notify the mapping unit <b>909</b> to mark the mapping table, thus indicating that data at this physical address has been stored in the local client.

00962) when said I/O operation judging unit <b>903</b> judges the I/O operation to be a reading request, said NIM agent operation unit <b>905</b> will look up the mapping table through the mapping unit <b>909</b> to determine the storage status of data to be read in the memory driver <b>807</b>; when data to be read is the updated data in the memory driver <b>807</b>, said data will be acquired from the memory driver <b>807</b>; when the data to be read is not on the memory driver <b>807</b> and should be read from the remote NIM server, corresponding installation image is read from the NIM server through the communication module <b>805</b>, and meanwhile, the mapping unit <b>909</b> will be notified to mark the mapping table correspondingly. According to the mapping table, when the data to read is judged to have been on the client's local client (copied to the local memory driver via data migration for example) and said data is identical to data at NIM server's corresponding address, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the data can be read directly from the local client; or according to another embodiment of the present invention, the data can also be read from the NIM server.

0097<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>10</b></figref> is a detailed schematically structural diagram of data migration module <b>809</b> shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>8</b></figref>. Said data migration module comprises: a data migration status judging unit <b>1001</b>, a data migration executing unit <b>1003</b> and a mapping table rewriting unit <b>1005</b>.

0098Herein, the data migration status judging unit <b>1001</b> is used to judge whether migration of resource data acquired from the NIM server and desired for installing said software is completed, thus to determine whether to end the data migration operation. When the data migration status judging unit <b>1001</b> judges that data migration has not been completed, said data migration executing unit <b>1003</b> will migrate the data from the NIM server to the client and store the migrated data in the memory driver <b>807</b>. When the data migration status judging unit <b>1001</b> judges that the data migration operation has been completed, said data migration executing unit <b>1003</b> will terminate the data migration operation.

0099On the other hand, on the basis of the data migration operation executed by the data migration executing unit <b>1003</b>, the mapping table rewriting unit <b>1005</b> will mark the address of data read from the NIM server as “local” in the mapping table, until all resources desired for installing the software have been migrated from the NIM server to the memory driver. When the images of software installation in the NIM server have completely been migrated to the memory driver, the data migration ends and the software installation completes. Then the data migration module <b>809</b> releases the I/O operation intercepting unit, the mapping unit and the virtual mapping device and ends the NIM service.

0100<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>11</b></figref> is a schematically structural diagram of a system <b>1100</b> which is used to install software on a client in a NIM environment according to the principle of the present invention.

0101The system shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>11</b></figref> includes one or more clients <b>1101</b>A, <b>1101</b>B, . . . , <b>1101</b>N, and a NIM server <b>1105</b> which provides resources desired for installing and maintaining software on said clients, as well as a network <b>1103</b>.

0102Herein, clients <b>1101</b>A, <b>1101</b>B, . . . , <b>1101</b>N have the structure described with reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. <b>8</b>-<b>10</b></figref>, so a description thereof will be omitted herein.

0103The NIM server <b>1105</b> according to the present invention further comprises a NIM server communication device <b>11051</b>, a NIM operation control device <b>11053</b>, an image reading device <b>11057</b> and an image database <b>11059</b>.

0104Herein, the NIM server communication device <b>11051</b> is used for establishing communication with said client, and for conveying the client's request for reading resources desired for running software from the NIM server to the NIM operation control device <b>11053</b>; the NIM operation control device <b>11053</b> is used for controlling the image reading device <b>11057</b> to read the installation image of desired resources from the image database <b>11059</b>, according to the client's request.

0105With reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>12</b></figref> and in connection with one particular embodiment, a system for installing software on a client according to the principle of the present invention is described bellow.

0106<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>12</b></figref> is a schematic diagram showing a system <b>1200</b> for installing software on a client in a NIM environment according to the present invention. The system according to the present invention can eliminate time delay in the software installation or realize the effect of “zero time delay” in the software installation.

0107In <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>12</b></figref>, the system <b>1200</b> comprises a client <b>1210</b> and a server <b>1260</b> that can communicate with each other through a network. The system <b>1200</b> can comprises one or more clients <b>1210</b>; and the client <b>1210</b> can realize the software installation on the basis of the NIM technology. The client <b>1210</b> designed according to the present invention preferably further comprises a NIM agent <b>1220</b>. The NIM agent <b>1220</b> can be, for example, an application program preset in the memory or BIOS. When the target client <b>1210</b>, for example, is powered on and BIOS boot is started, the NIM agent <b>1220</b> is loaded at first, and is read by BIOS simultaneously (the process will be described in detail later). According to one embodiment of the present invention, this NIM agent <b>1220</b> preferably comprises a memory I/O intercepting module <b>1221</b>, a NIM agent manipulating module <b>1222</b>, a memory manipulating module <b>1228</b> and a NIM agent network interface <b>1224</b>. In addition, the client <b>1210</b> of the present invention also comprises the client's address space mapping assembly <b>1226</b> and the client's memory driver/virtual mapping device <b>1211</b>. In one embodiment of the present invention, said client's address space mapping assembly <b>1226</b> can be placed in the client's memory driver/virtual mapping device <b>1211</b>, which is different from the above-mentioned embodiment where the client's address space mapping assembly <b>1226</b> is a separate unit. In another embodiment of the present invention, the client's memory driver/virtual mapping device <b>1211</b> can be included in the NIM agent <b>1220</b>. In the system shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. <b>12</b></figref>, the server <b>1260</b> is a NIM server for providing OS resources or application resources based on the NIM technology. The NIM server comprises a server network interface <b>1271</b>, a NIM operation manager <b>1272</b>, a server image reader <b>1273</b> and a image database <b>1274</b>. Herein, the server network interface <b>1271</b> and the agent network interface <b>1224</b> coordinate to conduct the signal interaction when establishing communication between the client and the server. The NIM operation manager <b>1272</b> is used to manage the NIM operation request from the client. The server image reader <b>1273</b> is used to read the installation image file in accordance with the instructions from the NIM operation manger <b>1272</b>. The image database <b>1274</b> is used to store the installation image files of one or more software programs. For example, it parses the read request received from the client and instructs the server image reader <b>1273</b> to read corresponding installation image file in the image database and to copy the read installation image file onto the local client through the server network interface <b>1271</b>.

0108All components of the NIM agent <b>1220</b> designed according to the present invention will be described in detail below. In said NIM agent <b>1220</b>, the memory I/O intercepting module <b>1221</b>, the NIM agent operation module, the memory operation module <b>1223</b> and the client network interface <b>1224</b> can be separate application programs or modules which are pre-stored in the memory or BIOS to execute relevant functions. When the target client is powered on and BIOS boot is started, the memory I/O intercepting module <b>1221</b>, the NIM agent operation module, the memory operation module <b>1223</b> and the client network interface <b>1224</b> are loaded first of all.

0109The memory I/O intercepting module <b>1221</b> is an analogue storage module for intercepting any I/O operation of installation software on the target client during booting of the client, and for conveying the intercepted I/O operation to the NIM agent operation module <b>1222</b>. In one embodiment of the present invention, when the target client begins to BIOS boot, said memory I/O intercepting module <b>1221</b> is loaded; when the target client begins to communicate with the NIM server, the module <b>1221</b> acts as a virtual mapping device, and every time the target client issues an I/O operation request, the memory I/O intercepting module <b>1221</b> will intercept said I/O operation request and store it therein while conveying the intercepted I/O operation request to the NIM agent operation module <b>1222</b>.

0110The NIM agent operation module <b>1222</b> runs the intercepted I/O operation according to the installation status of software and maps the intercepted I/O operation request to the client's local memory driver/virtual mapping device or to the NIM server (this process will be described in detail later). In one embodiment of the present invention, said NIM agent operation module <b>1222</b> is used to judge whether data related to the I/O operation received from said memory I/O intercepting module <b>1221</b> is stored in the local client or in the remote NIM server. This process is performed by inquiring the mapping assembly <b>1226</b> through NIM agent operation module <b>1222</b>.

0111The mapping assembly <b>1226</b> is a mapping table concerning the address space of the target client. Said mapping table is used to mark the storage condition of software to be installed in the client's memory driver. The Mapping assembly (mapping table) <b>1226</b> shows the overall volume status of the client and records the physical location of the software to be installed in the NIM server or in the local memory. The mapping assembly <b>1226</b> also marks which data desired for installing OS has already been on the client <b>1210</b> and which has not yet been written onto the client <b>1210</b> (namely, it is still in the remote NIM server). According to one embodiment of the present invention, the size of this address space mapping table is set to be as large as that of the client's hard disk when client begins to boot, or set according to the size of the OS to be installed on the target client during the system initialization. On the other hand, this address space mapping table can be set in blocks and block-based operation is performed thereafter. The size of the block can be 64K, 128K, 256K and so on. Taking this address space mapping table as an example, when BIOS is booting and the system initialization is started, some of the data of OS to be installed has been written onto a part of the addresses on the client's hard disk. These addresses for which data has been written into the address space of the target client are marked in the address space mapping table. For un-marked addresses, the data to be stored in these addresses is defaulted as stored in the NIM server. The server image reader <b>1273</b> in the NIM server <b>1260</b> reads data in blocks from the address specified in the corresponding installation image file, according to the address in the mapping table.

0112On one hand, if the NIM agent operation module <b>1222</b> determines that the data related to said I/O operation is in the local client by inquiring the mapping assembly <b>1226</b>, it will notify the memory operation module <b>1223</b> to acquire corresponding data by inquiring the client's memory driver/virtual mapping device <b>1211</b>. On the other hand, if the NIM agent operation module <b>1222</b> determines that the data related to said I/O operation is not in client (i.e., access to the NIM server is desired to acquire corresponding data) by inquiring the mapping assembly <b>1226</b>, said NIM agent operation module <b>1222</b> will access the NIM server <b>1260</b> via the agent network interface <b>1224</b>.

0113Said NIM server <b>1260</b> communicates with the agent network interface <b>1224</b> via the server network interface <b>1271</b> to receive the I/O request from the NIM agent <b>1210</b>, for example, the request for reading data related to the OS to be installed. To respond to the I/O request, the NIM operation manager <b>1272</b> is responsible for the protocol with the NIM agent <b>1220</b> and controls the server image reader <b>1273</b> to read the to-be-installed image file in the image database <b>1274</b>, and copies the installation image file from the NIM server <b>1260</b> to the client when marking the corresponding addresses in the mapping table as “local”.

0114In one embodiment of the present invention, said NIM agent <b>1220</b> may also comprise a data migration module (not shown). The data migration module can also be loaded during system booting. Furthermore, when the I/O operation of installing software on the client <b>1210</b> is neither reading nor writing, the data migration module will be activated to migrate data from the installation image file to the local memory driver, to mark the migrated data as “local” in the mapping table; to release the memory I/O intercepting module and the mapping table and to end the NIM service.

0115It can be seen from the above description of the system and method for installing software onto clients via network that, a NIM agent is firstly loaded during the client being powered on to start the initialization of BIOS booting. Once the communication between the client and a NIM server is established, an address space mapping table of client is set. According to the address space mapping table, with respect to each I/O operation request of client, running the NIM agent involves in the real-time invoking of the installation image data acquired from the NIM server in blocks and copying the data to the local client, and at the same time the read/writing operation of installing software is conducted. This is unlike the case in the prior art which subjects to the process of “NIM boot→copying the installation image→reboot→system being ready”, and in which the installation operation of systems or application programs can not be performed unless all the installation image files of OS on the server have been completely copied to the local client. Thus, “zero time-delay” of installing software is achieved according to the present invention.

0116In one embodiment of the present invention, for a client on with software is installed according to the present invention, a recovery file (Backup file) of the installed software is created after the completion of data migration. The recovery file preferably comprises all installation image files of OSs and application programs installed on the client. When a disaster recovery is to be performed due to the client's failure, the recovery file can be invoked directly during the client being powered on to start BIOS booting, to quickly recover the damaged software.

0117The system and method of the present invention for installing software on a client via network has been illustratively described above with reference to accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the illustrative description is given only for being helpful for a person skilled in the art to understand the principle of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention in any way.

0118A person skilled in the art can appreciate that embodiments of the present invention can be provided in the form of different methods, systems and computer programs. So the present invention can be implemented by software, hardware and a combination of hardware and software. A typical combination of hardware and software can be a general computer system with computer programs, where when the programs are loaded and executed, the computer system will be controlled to execute the above-mentioned method.

0119The present invention can be embedded in the computer program products and it includes all the features with which said method can be embodied. Said computer program products are contained in one or more computer-readable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk memory, CD-ROM, optical memory and so on), which contain computer-readable program codes. The present invention has been described with reference to flow charts and/or block diagrams of the method, system and computer program products according to the invention. Each block and combination of blocks in these flow charts and/or block diagrams can obviously be realized by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to general computers, special-purpose computers, embedded processors or other programmable digital processors to create a machine, thus giving an instruction (through computers or other programmable digital processors) to establish a device that realizes the functions specified in one or more blocks of these flow charts and/or block diagrams.

0120These computer program instructions can be also stored in one or more ROMs of the computer. Each of the ROMs can instruct the computer or other programmable digital processing equipments to function in a specific way, and hence a product is created by the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory. The products include an instruction device which can realize the functions specified in one or more blocks of these flow charts and/or block diagrams.

0121Computer program instructions can also be loaded onto one or more computers or other programmable digital processing equipments to enable a series of operations on said computers or other programmable digital processing equipments, and hence to realize the steps in one or more blocks of these flow charts and/or block diagrams.

0122In the above, the principle of the present invention is illustrated through preferred embodiments of the present invention. These embodiments described herein are only for the purpose of illustration and should not be intended to limit the present invention in any way. A person skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.